Around the NFL: Here's a memoir title: 'Vick as in Sick'

The most colorful owner in baseball history titled his memoirs “(Bill) Veeck as in Wreck.”

As legal bills mount, the most athletic quarterback in NFL history might want to market “Vick as in Sick.”

Mike Vick ... sad. The man had riches enough for 1,000 lifetimes.

What a contrast to Cleveland Browns receiver Steve Sanders, who would love to make half the NFL rookie minimum as a member of the practice squad and has seen too many friends lose their futures to $1,000 drug buys.

Unlike the quarterback who had it all, the receiver with almost nothing is writing a wonderful story.

The other day after practice, most of the 28-man football team from Cleveland East High School stepped toward the field and stopped at the white stripe. Sanders, an East alum, walked toward the team’s special guests and stopped on the other side of the line. He talked about staying straight, rising above the misery, getting right with God.

He begged them not to wind up like his best friend, once an East quarterback, who might be a corpse before he gets out of prison.

He said what he thought was the worst day of his life, getting his girlfriend pregnant, became one of his best.

He pounded his heart. He pounded his fist. Unless he’s an amazing actor, this couldn’t have been fake.

General Manager Phil Savage spotted Sanders a few years ago at Bowling Green. Savage wanted a good look at quarterback Omar Jacobs. His eye caught Sanders, a tall, long strider who took second in an Ohio state meet in the 300-meter hurdles.

In a bowl game, Sanders caught seven passes for 123 yards against Memphis. Savage didn’t draft Sanders but signed him as an undrafted rookie last year.

On Wednesday, after Sanders finished his talk, Savage kneeled in front of those Cleveland East kids. Savage spoke from his heart, too, about overcoming street-life temptations.

Later that day, Savage drove to Shula’s Steak 2, owned by a wealthy former coach. He spoke to an affluent group of business people.

He sympathized with the East kids, who have received used equipment the Browns used to throw away.

“My mom and dad were great,” Savage told the group. “We had a very stable upbringing. My dad was set in his job, always home around 5:30 to 5:45. We went to the same church for more than 20 years.”

Savage can’t know those East kids the way Sanders does.

Sanders, 24, says he knows little of his father. Drugs, guns and foul play were on his streets. He lived too many places to count in neighborhoods around a high school with a 22 percent graduation rate. He saw guns, drugs and foul play in school. East High should have had a boxing team, the way fists flew.

Sanders’ grammar wasn’t perfect.

“I know where you live,” he told as he scanned the young eyes. “I’m one of y’all.”

His passion was beautiful.

East High School is on 79th Street, less than two miles off Lake Erie. Its violence rating is in the same league as the Gaza Strip’s. The East squad is small, because that’s the norm at inner-city school, because some would-be members are selling drug du jour, because some juniors and seniors are in jail.

“I know how tough it is,” Sanders said. “But I’m telling you, you can make it. Look at me. Here I am. I was no different than you.”

Maybe you had to be there, but rest assured it was a powerful message.

Down the sideline, the Browns’ 60-year-old head coach, Romeo Crennel, was in the middle of his daily press conference. Someone mentioned Steve Sanders was telling quite a story.

“Maybe,” Crennel said, “I should be down there listening.”

Hot Starts

The best of the Week 1 openers, in one man’s view:

- Chicago at San Diego. This was last year’s Super Bowl matchup had the Chargers kept Drew Brees.

- New England at New York Jets. Eric Mangini’s jobs included bringing pizzas to the media when he was a Browns intern under Bill Belichick. Now, Mangini is a Big Apple big cheese aiming pies at Belichick’s face.

- Pittsburgh at Cleveland. One-stop shopping for regional hatred, in a good way aside from drunks and fights. Are the Rooneys inviting Steely McBeam to the owner’s box?

- New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys. QB coach Chris Palmer developed Tony Romo in Dallas. Don’t be surprised if Palmer wakes up Eli Manning after rejoining his former Jaguars cohort, Tom Coughlin.

- Baltimore at Cincinnati. The last two AFC North champs get it on.

What the Hall?

Explain it to Floyd Little when you figure it out.

Why do the Chiefs have seven players from their 1970 Super Bowl winner in the Hall of Fame, when the Broncos have one player from their entire history in the Hall?

The chance to make it two evaporated when Little became a 2007 Seniors Committee finalist but wasn’t one of two players picked (Marshall Goldberg, Emmitt Thomas).

“One representative in 40 years? I was expecting better news,” Little told The Denver Post. “What do they have against the Broncos?”

The view here is that linebacker Randy Gradishar is the ex-Bronco most deserving of getting bronzed in Canton.

Little’s HOF credentials are legitimate if not overwhelming. He retired as the NFL’s No. 7 career rusher in 1975, counting his AFL stats before the 1969 merger.

He was a splendid receiver, averaging 11.2 yards. LaDainian Tomlinson’s career per-catch average is 4 yards less. Tiki Barber’s was below 10. Jamal Lewis’ is 8.5.

The view here is that Little was an elite player but not quite a Hall of Famer. On the other hand, the man has a point on 1-for-40 being a tad bit ridiculous.

Tradition-Builders

It’s easy to forget that Pete Carroll went 27-21 with two playoff appearances as Patriots head coach from 1997-99 -- and that Belichick went 6-10 in 2000 before he U-turned toward the Hall of Fame.

Thus, two coaches had a hand in making the Patriots the winningest team of the last 10 years, tying Denver. The top five:

- Patriots, 102-58, three Super Bowl wins.

- Broncos, 102-58, two Super Bowl wins.

- Packers, 97-63, six playoff years.

- Steelers, 96-63-1, five playoff years.

- Colts, 95-65, seven playoffs years.

Extra Points

- It’s ironic that the “J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets” aren’t going anywhere this year. They’ll travel 9,186 miles this season, lowest in the league. The centrally located Rams will see the whole country, traveling a league-high 34,352 miles. The Seahawks, who have watched more in-flight movies than any team in recent history, will jet 33,586 miles. The Browns will fly 15,604 miles.

- O.J. Simpson owns the league record for opening-day rushing yards with 250 against the Patriots in 1973. Happy for him?